...1. This life is all you have and its best to make the most of it. ...

Along with that goes the acknowledgement that we are all in the same boat and all our lives would be that much better if we all helped each other. Not believing in an afterlife doesn't give us free reign to rape, pillage, and plunder - as some christians believe it would.

Dave - Just a Man in the Mountains.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. Isaac Asimov

Ya I know I might catch heat by starting this thread, but, hey, its a free country.

So, what subsequent conclusions, feelings, attitudes, and outlooks MIGHT come as a result of coming to the position of being an atheist.

1. This life is all you have and its best to make the most of it.

People with crappy lives might not be satisfied with that. Any belief that promises something better, would seem like a better alternative. There is also the fact that some actually change for the better as a result of religion in their life, regardless of it's validity as truth.

3. There is no fairness or justice in the universe. Great people die of cancer, lousy people live on. Humans however can strive to behave in a fair and just manner.

That's the problem. If there is no fairness or justice in the universe, then people can do as they please, along with the consequences, and then remember they are going to die anyways. All I'm saying is that there is no pushing reason to behave in a fair and just manner, unless of course you want to avoid punishment in the here and now.